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Dell Dimension C521

75

Good

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Pros
Case mounts horizontally or vertically
Reasonable performance for the price
Cons
Limited internal expansion room

Performance: Fair: 63
Features: Good: 71
Design: Good: 77

Find out how these scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Performance
ACD Systems ACDSee	588
Adobe Photoshop	361
Adobe Premiere	411
Ahead Nero	657
Discreet 3ds Max DirectX	305
Discreet 3ds Max OpenGL	362
Doom 3 with AA, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	16.7
Doom 3 with AA, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	13.3
Doom 3, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	30.2
Doom 3, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	23.7
Far Cry with AA, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	29.74
Far Cry with AA, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	18.69
Far Cry, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	57.51
Far Cry, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	34.44
Microsoft Office XP	559
Mozilla	424
Multitasking	513
Musicmatch Jukebox	531
Overall Graphics Score	Poor
Return to Castle Wolfenstein, 1024 by 768, 16-Bit	106.3
Return to Castle Wolfenstein, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	76.7
Return to Castle Wolfenstein, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	48.13
Roxio VideoWave	286
Unreal Tournament, 1024 by 768, 16-Bit	183.72
Unreal Tournament, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	140.94
Unreal Tournament, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	90.84
Windows Media Encoder	323
WinZip	411
World Bench 5 Score	95
World Bench 5 Word Score	Fair

What You Should Know about the Dimension C521

Compact Case Is Designed for Smaller Work Areas

This compact computer is smaller than the standard and midsize tower PCs that fit under your desk, making it ideal for limited work areas. Small case designs vary, too. However, such PCs tend to be underpowered (especially on gaming), and mini cases also have few available expansion slots and drive bays. Generally you'll have to expand the system via USB, FireWire, or eSATA peripherals, so make sure your compact system has a large number (and assortment) of ports.

Reviewed by: pdhamblin

Duration of ownership: 11 Months

Strengths: Solid PC, small, 17" monitor sits nicely on my desk and is easy to adjust as needed. Quiet CPU, easy to open case. USB ports on front are easily accessible.

Weaknesses: No real expansion bays, case can be noisy if not closed up properly, especially during burning a CD\DVD. DELL support, morons.

Overall Evaluation: Overall I would call this a great machine, I work in the IT industry and it has never failed me. I like the ease of access to USB ports for my flash drives. I have mine at 4GB of RAM, so it really scoots when I need it to, I highly reccomend the RAM upgrade. Worth every penny.
Reviewed by: spoe402327

Duration of ownership: 2 Months

Strengths: powerful for it's size

Weaknesses: graphics card not for gamers

Overall Evaluation: online tech support is TOPS, they can even access your PC remotely to diagnois any concerns